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APL 3910, Exemplar 3910, MF KW, Esoteric X-01?

I currently have Krell KPS-28c cd player ($8500). I am thinking about upgrading in the near future. Please help me decide which player – most important for me is “red book” format. The rest of my gears are Krell KCT pre-amp ($9000), Krell 400cx amp ($10500) and Wilson Audio Sophia ($11500). Following are possible players in random order:
Musical Fidelity KW SACD - $7,000.00
Krell CD/SACD – to be released soon (because of CAST) - $?
ESOTERIC X-01 SACD/CD - $13,00.00
APL 3910 - $5000.00
Exemplar 3910- $4000.00

Will I be down grading instead of upgrading with any of the above player?

Thanks in advance for your input
sd2005gt
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 
Has anyone A/Bed the current leading moded units based on Denon 3910 and follow ons with the Teac Esoteric X-01?
I have A/Bed the older APL 1000 and X-01, but that is not a fair comparison, being the APL 1000 based on older Philips hardware.
orjazzm
45 posts
 
I too am very curious about modded players. Are they really that good? I recently checked out the new Ayre universal and was clearly blown away. Can anyone comment on how the modded players compare to the Ayre?
711smilin
513 posts
 
Apl, modwright, and exemplar ARE IN ANOTHER LEAGUE, ALL FOR LESS $$$
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 
Smilin, in wat other league are the modded machines? you are not telling us what the base league is. More specifically, have you compared these leading modded units with such machines as the Teac X-01?

As already mentioned in passing, a personal listening of the Esoteric X-01 and the admittedly surpassed APL 1000 did favor in my view the X-01 in almost every aspect, except perhaps the APL did sound sweeter.
orjazzm
45 posts
 
Thanks to all who've answered, 711smilin have you heard the new Ayre, I would love to hear the comparisons. Guidocorona, I haven't heard the X-01 but I've heard from others that the sacd on the Ayre was just as good as the X-01.
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